Seattle mandates paid sick leave for workers

Updated 3:53 pm, Monday, September 12, 2011

The City Council on Monday approved legislation requiring businesses in Seattle to offer their workers paid sick leave.

Prolonged cheers and applause from advocates broke out in City Hall chambers following the vote.

Two other major cities – Washington, D.C., and San Francisco – also have similar laws.

The vote was not unexpected. Last week six members – Tim Burgess, Sally Clark, Jean Godden, Nick Licata and Bruce Harrell – had agreed to pass an amended version of the sick-leave bill originally floated by Licata.

"To ensure healthy working conditions is clearly a role that only government can address," Licata said. "Government..has a duty to protect it's citizens by promoting good, safe and healthy work conditions."

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The final tally was "eight" yes, with City Council President Richard Conlin the lone "no."

"I'm concerned there may be some unintended consequences in the implementation of this legislation," said Conlin, who worried about the complexity of the new law. "This legislation differentiates among workers, and that's a problem."

The agreed-upon measure, which takes effect September of 2012, specifies that the amount of sick time offered would vary by the size of the businesses:

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Employers with between one and four employees would not be required to offer sick leave.

Students in work-study jobs would also not be eligible.

Businesses with up to 49 workers would have to offer up to one hour of sick time for every 40 hours worked.

The biggest companies – 250 or more employees – would also need to give paid time off equivalent, one hour for every 30 hours worked.

The biggest businesses that already give PTO that combines sick time and vacation time into a "single pot" wouldn't have to offer 1.5 hours of paid time off for every 30 hours worked.

Shift swapping would be allowed, and employees would have to work a minimum number of days to qualify.

There's also now a requirement for an independent evaluation to assess what the impact of the new law on employers is, which will be overseen by the City Auditor.

New businesses (those less than 2 years old) would be exempt.

The right to sick leave could be negotiated away, with consent of unions.

The Economic Opportunity Institute estimates nearly 200,000 workers in Seattle now get no paid sick days.

Advocates said the legislation was needed to ensure a health work force, especially in the food service industry. But opponents said it would cost job creators too much.

Rick Yoder, the owner of Seattle's Wild Ginger and Triple Door restaurants, told the Council that the paid-sick days ordinance, combined with other recent city fee increases on things like parking, are squeezing the City business owners.

"I urge you to continue to think about this in a bigger continuum," he said.

George Allen, spokesman for the Greater Seattle Area of Commerce, agreed with Yoder.

"We support the principals here, we should be able to provide public health and safety without undue financial hardship," he said, but added that mandating that sick leave be provided will mean cuts to employee health insurance and fewer job openings. "Those employers who've been providing very, very generous benefits, if it's not exactly this, it gets laid on top."

A poll released last week by sick-leave proponents showed that more than two-thirds of Seattleites favored the idea of requiring businesses to provide paid sick leave.

Burgess said he supported the bill because it protects the city's most vulnerable.

"Workers without paid sick leave days are often the individuals living paycheck to paycheck, they simply cannot afford to take a day off when they are sick," Burgess said.

In a statement, Mayor Mike McGinn said: "Paid Sick Leave levels the playing field in Seattle by supporting public health and economic justice. Seattle residents shouldn't have to choose between staying home sick and keeping their job.... I thank Councilmember Nick Licata for his leadership and the Council for passing this ordinance."